Through the Perilous Fight: Six Weeks That Saved the Nation

Written by Steve Vogel

Narrated by Arthur Morey

In the summer of 1814, the United States of America teetered on the brink of disaster. The war it had declared against Great Britain two years earlier appeared headed toward inglorious American defeat. The young nation's most implacable nemesis, the ruthless British admiral George Cockburn, launched an invasion of Washington in a daring attempt to decapitate the government and crush the American spirit. The British succeeded spectacularly, burning down most of the city's landmarks—including the White House and the Capitol—and driving President James Madison from the area. As looters ransacked federal buildings and panic gripped the citizens of Washington, beleaguered American forces were forced to regroup for a last-ditch defense of Baltimore. The outcome of that "perilous fight" would help change the outcome of the war—and with it, the fate of the fledgling American republic.



In a fast-paced, character-driven narrative, Steve Vogel tells the story of this titanic struggle from the perspective of both sides. Like an epic novel, Through the Perilous Fight abounds with heroes, villains, and astounding feats of derring-do. The vindictive Cockburn emerges from these pages as a pioneer in the art of total warfare, ordering his men to "knock down, burn, and destroy" everything in their path. While President Madison dithers on how to protect the capital, Secretary of State James Monroe personally organizes the American defenses, with disastrous results. Meanwhile, a prominent Washington lawyer named Francis Scott Key embarks on a mission of mercy to negotiate the release of an American prisoner. His journey will place him with the British fleet during the climactic Battle for Baltimore, and culminate in the creation of one of the most enduring compositions in the annals of patriotic song: "The Star-Spangled Banner."



Like Pearl Harbor or 9/11, the burning of Washington was a devastating national tragedy that ultimately united America and renewed its sense of purpose. Through the Perilous Fight combines bravura storytelling with brilliantly rendered character sketches to recreate the thrilling six-week period when Americans rallied from the ashes to overcome their oldest adversary—and win themselves a new birth of freedom.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jun 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781452684147

Steve Vogel

Steve Vogel is the author of Through the Perlious Fight and The Pentagon: A History, both published by Random House. He is a reporter for the national staff of the Washington Post who covers the federal government and frequently writes about the military and veterans. Based overseas from 1989 through 1994 and reporting for the Post and Army Times, he covered the fall of the Berlin Wall and the first Gulf War, and subsequently reported on military operations in Somalia, Rwanda, the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq. Vogel also covered the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon and its subsequent reconstruction. He lives in the Washington metro area.

Reviews for Through the Perilous Fight

[vgaharris · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Interesting to read how the Americans kept blundering and allowed the British to ruin Washington D.C. but the narrative gets lost in a morass of details.

[dknoch_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In his latest book, Through the Perilous Fight, veteran Washington Post journalist Steve Vogel examines the turbulent period surrounding the burning of Washington, DC, by the British army during the War of 1812. Although largely an overlooked segment of American history, the conflict nevertheless produced a number of iconic American moments such as the aforementioned razing of the newly constructed capital, Dolley Madison protecting the portrait of George Washington, and of course the Star-Spangled Banner. With a spectacular level of detail derived from an obviously exhaustive study of primary and secondary sources, Vogel painstakingly presents the circumstances surrounding these events in an easy-to-read narrative that follows both the British and American forces (land and sea) as they maneuver throughout the Chesapeake Bay region. Politics, including the diplomatic efforts in Ghent to end the war, and the privations of the citizenry are also given an in-depth look, while other significant events of the war - The battles of Lake Erie, Plattsburgh, and the invasion of Canada, for example - are mentioned in relation to the effect they had on the East Coast situation. Quite the page-turner (an uncommon trait among studies of military history), Through the Perilous Fight is a must-read for anyone having an interest in learning more about a time when The United States almost ceased to exist.

[carterchristian1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Portraits are an outstanding feature of this book.